of the organizers of the ethnic cleansing of muslims and croatians in bosnia in the 1990's has started his defense at the hague proceedings by saying he did all he could to avoid war. >> a united nations court charges former bosnian serb leader radovan karadzic with the deaths of thousands. he faces life in prison if found guilty. >> he remained unrepentant as he began his defense. the former bosnian serb leader rejected the war crimes charges against him. >> instead of being accused for the events in the war, i should have been rewarded for all the good things i've done because i did everything humanly possible to avoid the war and to reduce the suffering of civilians.

>> the united nations court in the hague will hear his answer to a long list of atrocities in the former yugoslavia. 300 hours are allotted for his defense. the 67-year-old is representing himself and plans to call hundreds of witnesses to the stand. the 10 judges against him include genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. he's accused of being behind the murder of 8000 men and boys in 1995, the worst massacre in europe since world war ii. prosecutors have now charged 161 suspects over war crimes in the balkans. on tuesday, the final defendant began his child. the former rebel leader was arrested in 2011 after years on the run. he is accused of the murder, torture, and forcible deportation of ethnic croats. >> the creation of ethnically

cure territories in regions that have for generations been ethnically mixed is accomplished through conflict, persecution, and violence. what we now generically called ethnic cleansing. >> the united nations war crimes court could take another two years to pass its final judgments. >> we are happy now to be joined in the studio by our east european affairs correspondent, who has been following this trial for us. first of all, how did the defense go down in the court today? >> i think what we see is a two-sided strategy. on the one side, they are trying to say the killings that happen happened in the cause of war and were not human rights violations -- the killings that happens happen in the cause of war -- the killings that happened happened in the course of war.

>> we just heard it could take two years until we have a verdict in this case. is that a realistic assessment? >> i think so, yes. what we have to understand is the prosecution can refer to many verdicts that happened before. on that basis, many people have been brought to prison. that is shortening, at the end of the day, this trial. >> will this bring some sort of closure to this chapter in bosnia's history? >> it is hard to tell. very strong discussions about -- for example, when we take the case of bosnia-herzegovina, you will see many monuments celebrating bosnian serb on the other hand, in the

concentration camps, there are not such remembrances. what we see here is a lot of denial, for example, also of the genocide. >> a ways to go. thank you so much. >> the german finance minister is calling for broad powers over national budgets to be given to brussels to help stabilize the eurozone and its common currency. the eu's currency affairs commissioner, for example, would receive a virtual veto powers. >> the chancellor's bavarian coalition partners have signaled that they are reluctant to cede any more power to the european commission. >> schaeuble has spent days in the eurozone.

back at the finance ministry in berlin, he has gone further, outlining concrete steps he hopes will eventually help end the crisis once and for all. >> i think they are realistic steps that could be taken now. first of all, to make the currency commissioner stronger and more independent, like the competition commissioner who can make decisions on their own. >> the currency commissioner would give sweeping new powers under schaeuble's plans, including the right to reject budgets if they fail to conform, meaning states would have to cede more sovereignty to brussels -- in this case, the power to decide the national budget. the third proposal involves strengthening the european parliament. lawmakers would be given more say in decisions and more flexibility. he suggests for example that

laws affecting certain countries should be decided only by lawmakers from those countries and not by all eu members. the aim is to further streamline decision making and make the block more able to withstand any future crises, but to achieve these goals, treaties would have to be changed, and that is a laborious process. >> following these major changes, these proposals coming from the german finance minister's office, is our political correspondent. peter, first off, these are very far-reaching proposals. does schaeuble have support inside the commission and in other european capitals? >> there has not been much worse so far, and that is not surprising because effectively, he has only been thinking aloud. he will map it out a little bit more towards the end of the week, we gather, and then maybe we will get more of a response. we know he is calling for significant power to be invested in the office of the currency

commission, including as we have seen, this veto power over domestic budgets for countries that have broken eu budgetary rules. that could prove to be extremely controversial. a lot of people will see that as meddling. essentially a very sensitive area of domestic policy -- that is what it has been so far -- domestic policy, budgetary policy. i'm not sure that even pro- european countries like spain, or for example paris, france, that they will have much of a stomach for this. it does entail handing over budgetary sovereignty in very large measure to brussels. when we are talking about paris and madrid, i dread to think about what the reaction would be from the united kingdom, a euro-sceptic country. >> schaeuble has also talked about austerity, there being no option to cut the budgets right now, leading to riots in greece, spain, and recently, portugal.

does he have any alternative? >> the core message is austerity, more austerity, financial reform -- continue on that track. we have also recently had a comment -- "there will be no state bankruptcy in greece," which has been widely interpreted as an easing up on the pressure on athens. >> thanks so much from our parliamentary studios. the european union health commissioner has quit after being implemented midget -- implicated in a fraud probe surrounding a new eu tobacco regulation. a swedish company claimed that in the soviet offer to help legalized the sale of its tobacco products in exchange for cash. officials say no bribes were made. the head of one of the world's

largest banks has resigned after tensions with the board of directors. vikram pandidtt, who led citigroup through the financial crisis, step down, and this came as a shock to many executives. the head of citigroup's division for europe and the middle east and africa has been named as pandit's replacement. monday, citigroup reported a massive drop in third quarter earnings. >> turning out to the automotive sector, sales in europe seeing a major slump. they plunged in september. >> that is for sure. yet another sign that many europeans in the current economic climate either cannot afford those big-ticket items or are putting off purchases and holding onto their cash. >> the financial crisis is taking its toll on french carmaker renault. sales plummeted in september. opel and ford reported slightly

smaller faults. production has been cut. sales in southern europe have fallen considerably. in september, greece saw a drop in car sales of almost 49%, compared to one year ago. in spain, the number was 37%. while portugal saw sales crumble 31%. germany saw a fall of 11%, the eu average. britain was the only market where sales grew. europe's dealers are offering big discounts just to keep the wheels turning. one in three cars leaving the lion's of timber was a discounted test car or company vehicle. now, europe's biggest car maker, volkswagen, is joining the discount war by cutting the price of the golf 6 by around 20%. >> how did that news go down with german traders?

our correspondent has more from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> the heavy slump on the european car market was the only bad news. general, the mood was very good. oraror icony, and lots of positive u.s. corporate numrsued strong investment banking. tiayget help very soon. >> let's get a closer ir' benchmark tax is higher on the day. it wasur stoxx 50rly 0.7

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governmentan now sho tt ey are not restricting travel but the target countries. it is not an avalanche tt wiee, and it willot prompt major political crisis. >> thank you so very much. it has been 10 years since an oil spill in the atlantic polluted tusds of kileters of european coastline and cost hundreds of fishermen their livelihood. the trial to determine responsibility has jusben. >> the greek-operated shipping vessel prestige was transporting thousands of tons of oil when it sprang a leak and benpiinoi off northwestern spain on november 13, 2002. >> it was the worst environmenl daster in spanish history. the oil tanker prestige broke in two and then sank. more than 50,000 tons of oil leaked into the atlantic and

polluted the coastline. 250,000 seabirds are thought to ha dd a result. 10 years on, the case has finally come to trial. the court is set to hear from hundreds ofitness a experts. there are four people on trial for causing the disaster. the ship's captain,he chief engineer, and the former director of spain's merchant shipping. the first officer from the prestige fled but is being tried in absentia. his defense team wants the case against him dropped. they say the extent of the spill was exacerbated by spanish officials. that is a view shared by environmentalists and residents. there were protests outside the exhibition hall where the case is being heard. they complained that nobody from the government in power at the time is being put on trial. spanish officials ordered the

stricken vessel be towed out to sea. critics say that made this bill much worse -- made the spill much worse. the coastline now shows signs of recovery. a verdict on the case is not expected before september of next year. >> last-minute preparations are under way in the u.s. as president barack obama and challenger mitt romney prepare to face off in their second presidential debate. >> this one will really matter for the two men. the latest polls show the candidates running neck and neck with just a few weeks to go before the elections. they are especially focusing on swing states like ohio which could be key in determining the outcome. >> it is a warm welcome in youngstown for paul ryan, the vice presidential candidate and entire republican party are honing in on ohio. to retake the white house, they need to win the buckeye state. >> it is great to be here in

youngstown. it reminds me of my town. i come from wisconsin. we live on the block i grew up on. it is a blue-collar, factory town. our part of wisconsin is just like this part of ohio. >> that strikes a chord with people here. they want jobs to come back to youngstown, returning the city to its heyday as a steel and auto industry hub. recent years have seen the local economy take a sharp downturn. steel makers left, and the auto supply industry hit rock-bottom in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. many businesses were forced to shut their doors. bruce was a retired engineer at a company that made parts for general motors. he saw it all happen. >> so many good things and so many good people work here, and now to see it in such a state, it is really hurtful.

>> he worked at delphi for 30 years. he did not just lose his job. like thousands of others, he lost much of his retirement money. >> my pension was reduced to about 30% at a time when i had four children in college. i was supposed to be in my best earning years, but it turned out to be just a horrible time. >> in a bid to save u.s. carmakers, the obama administration poured money into the industry. now, parts suppliers have found their feet again, but that does not impress bruce, who says he has lost faith in the government. >> it is impossible to believe that they say anything honestly. they only speak to keep themselves in power and could not really care less. >> not everyone in youngstown shares that view. in the city center, we met a councilwoman. >> we are very grateful for that

bailout. if we had lost that auto industry, it would have been a ripple effect in this town. as we would have it -- as we had never seen it before. >> she has close ties to the african-american and latino communities, which make up half of youngstown's 70,000 residents. most traditionally vote democrat. at a restaurant, we meet a 36- year-old who has already cast his vote via postal ballot. he is back in barack obama for a second term. am i really do not think that one person could really come along and changed the whole country. plus, when you have that much of a mess to clean up, you cannot express -- expected to push a magic button and have everything better in four years. >> many voters are more cautious about getting behind the obama campaign this time around. the race is still wide open in ohio. >> finally, a sports exhibit

with a difference -- we are all used to super slow-motion replays of sports matches that usually focus on tackles or amazing shots. >> but what if you approach a sport with the eye of an artist? one exhibit in berlin shows a different side of the german national team. >> a german and dutch player, fierce opponents dancing in step, acrobatics on the field caught in a split second. germany's defender with artistic arms. moments that would have been lost forever had these photos not been taken. germany against holland, a lonely figure surrounded by three dutch players. germany defeated by italy -- a figure points to royce, prone and alone on the grass. it is moments like these that fascinate this photographer, even though she is no football fan herself.

>> this is a harsh seen. if you look more closely, you see he has just been through a hard fight. he is stranded, trying to pick himself up. when you look at the spectators, you see that no one is interested in him. >> by contrast, attracting a lot of attention is the germany team manager. this exhibition was his idea. >> moments are captured. in these moments, certain movements are preserved for posterity, such as this one. he almost looks like an angel. it is a constellation of body parts, if i can put it that way. >> the angelic player with the ball seemingly stuck to his hand. >> i hope i did not make any

mistakes. in most cases, i can match the right leg to the right player. those are the legs of -- >> not only she can recognize them. >> i can. it has got to be thomas mueller. >> caught on camera thousands of times but rarely so elegantly. football itself is cast in a new light as a mix of dance, theater, and tragedy. >> time for that closely watched score right now. before we go, germany leads sweden 3-0 in their world cup qualifier. >> one goal away from the tally of legendary striker mueller. >> that is all for the "journal" on dw. bye bye. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

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in okinawa police arrest two u.s. servicemen on charges of rape. residents of okinawa woke up to learn of something sure to fan anti-american sentiment. police arrested two u.s. servicemen on charges of sexually assaulting a japanese woman. people who live near the u.s. bases are angry about a number of things, most recently the deployment of the controversial aircraft. police say the men attacked and